The Official Blog for the Korean Film Festival in Australia - Presenting the Many Faces of Korean Cinema

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Choi Min-sik - A Man of Many Moments

While actors like Song Kang-ho may
be more prolific, and Lee Byung-hun may be more idolized, chances are if you
speak to somebody from the western world and they’ve seen a Korean movie, the
conversation will almost certainly (with very little variation, I’ve had it
many times myself) go like this – “So there was a crazy movie were this guy
eats a live octopus, then later he beats up a heap of people with a hammer,
then the ending….the ending is just insane!”

Of course to anyone even slightly
initiated with the world of Korean cinema, the movie being described is of course 2003’s
‘OldBoy (올드보이)’,
and that “guy” who’s being referred to is Oh Dae-su, the character played by
Choi Min-sik. ‘OldBoy’, debatably even
more so than ‘Shiri (쉬리)’,
which came 4 years before & in which he also starred, along with the previously
mentioned Song Kang-ho, is probably the biggest breakout Korean movie so far. Audiences in America,
the UK, & Australia all
became familiar with the second of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy through
strong word of mouth, mainly involving those scenes that everyone talks about,
and glowing reviews from film critics, making Choi Min-sik’s rather large head
instantly recognizable to many people who normally wouldn’t know Jet Li from
Bruce Lee.

However equally as entertaining as
‘OldBoy’, all be it in a much less shocking manner, is the story of Choi
Min-sik himself. Born in 1962, Min-sik
had a rough start to life when, while in third grade, he was diagnosed with
tuberculosis and told nothing could be done for him. However he refused to give up, and after an
extended stay in the mountains, he came back cured and healthy.

Initially a stage actor, Min-sik broke
into the movies at the age of 27 in 1989 with roles in a handful of
productions, including the early efforts by director Park Jong-won ‘Kuro
Arirang’ and ‘Our Twisted Hero’, as well as various TV dramas. He finally got a sizeable role in Song
Neung-han’s ‘No. 3 (넘버 3)’
as a tough talking cop in 1997, and also starred in Kim Ji-woon’s debut movie
‘The Quiet Family (조용한가족)’,
which was itself remade in Japan by Miike Takashi in 2001 as ‘The Happiness of
the Katakuris’.

It was in 1999 that Min-sik could
be considered to have gotten his first major role which won him recognition,
which ironically enough was in the movie that also happened to be the first
Korean production to become well known overseas as well as domestically, and
that movie was ‘Shiri’. Playing a North
Korean agent operating in the South with the plan to blow up Seoul, he brought an intensity to the role
that, even now when the action scenes have become rather dated, still make the
movie a very watchable experience. It
wasn’t only the audiences that noticed, as the role also brought him the Best
Actor award at the 1999 domestic Grand Bell Awards.

Min-sik found himself busy for the
next few years, landing starring roles in the movies ‘Happy End (해피엔드)' , ‘Failan
(파이란)’
(opposite Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung), and ‘Strokes of Fire (취화선)’. In 2003 he starred in ‘OldBoy’, an adaptation
of a Japanese manga of the same name, and an unrelated follow-up to director
Park Chan-wook’s ‘Sympathy for Mr Vengenance (복수는나의것)’. While all of the
movies he’d starred in so far were solid efforts, the release of ‘OldBoy’ saw
Min-sik’s popularity go through the roof, both in Korea and as his face became
familiar to overseas audiences, all be it most tended to remember it with a few
tentacles slithering over his cheeks.

Choi followed it up with the
lighthearted romp ‘Spring Time (꽃피는봄이오면)’,
before starring alongside Ryoo Seung-beom in Ryoo Seung-wan’s boxing drama
‘Crying Fist (주먹이운다)’, in
which he plays a down & out boxer fighting to get back his respect & family. In 2005 he returned to darker territory with
a role in the third & final installment of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance
Trilogy, ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (친절한금자씨)’, in
which he plays a child murderer.
Although only a small role, he certainly leaves his mark, which is just
as well because 2005 also marked the beginning of his 5 year self-imposed exile
from movie making.

Done in protest against the
governments decision to drastically reduce the Screen Quotas Korean movies
would get as part of the Free Trade Agreement with the US, Min-sik even went so
far as to return the prestigious Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit which had been
given to him, stating, “To halve the screen quota is tantamount to a death
sentence for Korean film. This medal,
once a symbol of pride, is now nothing more than a disgrace, and it is with a
heavy heart that I must return it.” The
protests took place in Seoul as well as at that years Cannes Film Festival, and
his actions saw him make a return to his theatrical roots, starring in only one
movie during the whole period which was the Tibet shot ‘Himalaya, Where the
Wind Dwells (히말라야, 바람이머무는곳)’ in
2008, in which he was the only Korean actor amongst a cast comprised completely
of local Tibetan actors.

Eventually the dust settled, &
in 2010 he returned to the screen with a bang, or rather a murderous roar, in
Kim Ji-woon’s ‘I Saw the Devil (악마를보았다)’. The second time the pair had worked together,
‘I Saw the Devil’ is about as far away from the comedic ‘The Quiet Family’ as
you can get, as he plays a psychotic serial killer with a vicious sadistic
streak. Some reviewers criticized the
movie for its level of ultra-violence, while others seemed to celebrate it, but
one thing every review had in common was praise for Min-sik’s portrayal as the
greasy psychopath up against Lee Byung-hun’s revenge seeking cop.

2011 saw him keeping up the good
work, as he appeared on the screen not once but twice, all be it one was only
as a voice-over on the animated feature ‘Leafie, A Hen into the Wild (마당을나온암탉)’,
which became the highest grossing Korean animated feature of all time. The second one saw Min-sik on familiar ground
as an upcoming gangster during the 1980’s Busan in Yoon Jong-bin’s ‘Nameless
Gangster (범죄와의전쟁 : 나쁜놈들전성시대)’. In what’s been described as a Korean version
of ‘Goodfellas’, Min-sik plays alongside who must surely be the busiest actor
in Korea right now, Ha Jeong-woo, in a tale of corruption, double-crosses, and
of course, violence. Min-sik stated in a
press interview for the movie that he’d become tired of playing cruel characters,
but that the script and story of ‘Nameless Gangster’ were too good to turn
down, and indeed the movie was a great success.

Thankfully there is no exile on
the horizon, with upcoming roles in gangster drama ‘A New World’ and ‘Battle of
Myeongryang, WhirlwindSea’. If one thing can be said for Choi Min-sik,
it’s that he’s definitely left his mark on Korean cinema.

* For anyone who has yet to
experience Choi Min-sik onscreen, both ‘OldBoy’ and ‘Leafie, a Hen into theWild’ will be screening at the 2012 Korean Film Festival in Australia, be
sure to check them out.

** If anybody is curious about the
montage I used in the middle of this article, this was actually a piece of
artwork that a good acquaintance of mine, Bob O’Brien, was recently
commissioned to make for Choi Min-sik’s visit to the 2012 New York Asian Film
Festival, with the specific purpose of being presented to Min-sik himself. If you suddenly decide your living room wall
seems empty without it, you can order a copy here.

3 comments:

Oh man, that was a beautiful write up man. Wonderful reporting- and fast! I felt like I was there. I love that you jumped in there and were willing to try whatever came your way. I'm really looking forward to your next blog entry Paul. Excellent!